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Monday, March 28, 2011

Death by Chocolate Cake

I find an opportunity to bake at the drop of a hat.A new appealing recipe with ingredients ready in my kitchen sees me rushing to line my pans and pull out my weighing scale and hand held mixer,switch on the music and bake to glory.But when someone asks me to bake something in particular,I am huffing and puffing and losing patience even if the slightest thing goes wrong.

It was Ajay's birthday on 26th and as usual,I started thinking about which cake to bake almost two weeks back.During a casual talk I asked him if he had any preferences and expected the usual answer -anything which you like or anything which is easy.But no,he HAD a choice after all.He asked me to bake a Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Cream and Chocolate Ganache,I rubbed my eyes in amusement-maybe married to a food blogger has rubbed on him too,I mean such precise choices,ganache did you say?

Being the chocoholics we are,there was no dearth of chocolate cake recipes in my repertoire,but I wanted something special as the birthday boy ought to have what he wants but in a special way.

I zeroed in on Hershey's Perfect Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Whipped Cream and Chocolate Ganache.Now that is what I call a Death by Chocolate Cake!

In a thick bottomed saucepan boil the cream along with the sugar.In a big mixing bowl add the chopped chocolate and the boiling cream and mix well using a whisk.Let it cool to room temperature and then refrigerate.[The cream whips well if it is refrigerated for 4 hours or more,better still refrigerate it for 24 hours].If you have refrigerated it for only 4 hours,it is better to whip it using an ice-bath otherwise,beat the cream well using a hand held mixer until it starts forming soft peaks.Keep refrigerated until use.

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

Dark Chocolate - 200 gms[I used Morde]Cream - 200 ml[I used Amul]

Method

Chop the chocolate and keep aside.Heat the cream until it starts boiling,add to the chocolate and stir well using a whisk.Let it come to room temperature and then refrigerate it.Ganache thickens as it cools down,so if it has become too thick to be poured on top of the cake as a glaze,microwave it using 10 second spurts until it becomes the required consistency.

Soaking SyrupMix together 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water along with a tsp rum or vanilla and mix well.refrigerate till required.

Assembling the cake

Poke small holes on the cakes using a toothpick and using a pastry brush,apply the soaking syrup all over.Sandwich the cooled cakes using the chocolate whipped cream and crumb coat the cake.Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.Apply the cream on top and sides to cover the cake completely.Pour the ganache glaze on top and tilt the cake slightly so that it is equally distributed on top of the cake.Make a spidey web pattern on top using the cream.Pipe swirls on the sides of the cake using the ganache.Serve chilled.

I had planned to make a lace border just like last year,but it wouldn't have looked that good since it was only chocolate all the way through.So made a small deviation from the original plan.I smeared melted chocolate very thinly on wax paper cut according to the border size of the cake and coated the sides of the cake with the paper.Chilled the cake for a while and then removed the paper.It hasn't come out that well but you'd hardly notice it once you start eating the cake!

How did we the birthday boy like it -I was keeping my fingers crossed as he cut his cake.One bite,as he closed his eyes and relished the cake,I got my answer.He loved it totally and had 3 slices!!For me,it was THE perfect chocolate cake in every ways possible.Don't go by the longish recipes,every element can be made ahead of time and refrigerated.Bake the cakes,make the ganache and make the prep work for the cream a day before and you are done.On the day of assembling,just put everything together and tada,you'll have a great cake!

Was waiting for the recipe ever since I saw this on FB yesterday. Glad Ajay chose this to be baked for him! Pass on belated birthday wishes to him.

My hubby too used to earlier say 'Whatever you like' or 'as you wish' when asked about his choice. He too has now changed ever since I actively started blogging. It feels so good to cook for our loved ones, that too when they demand and like our preparations, the joy is beyond words, isnt it?

Oh god !!!!!divya from today onwards am not going to view this site.U make me drool drool drool like hell every time.u r true the name Oh god death by chocolate cake!!!!! by the way Belated birthday wishes to ajay.he is really a lucky man for having u as his better half !!!

Super-deliciouso! Looks great, bday boy's day was done! :) Loved the perfection in ur piping! The side wall of choco too is appealing! :) Tks for sharing! (PS..I had baked this basic cake, wt cream cheese, for a frndz 1st wedding ann..everything looked perfect..except when they cut n bit in..I FORGOT SUGAR!! :D Will try this cake again for the very goodness of it n ur icing!)

The cake look absolutely yummy and it is so well done.This cake is a favorite in my house too.I don't mind making this as long as I get to eat the biggest slice.Loved the way you decorated the cake it looks awesome.

Hi Divya........Tomy here.....i wanted to ask you something......the boiling water part....do u directly pour the cup of boiling water from the gas to the batter or do we let it cool before poring it in........can u please lemme know? am thinking of making it on friday....

Hello Divya,Amazing recipe, would definately like to try it out, its great to take tips from others and improve self cooking skills :) had just one query : regarding whipping cream i had read that Amul fresh cream will not give the foamy consistency as required, is that true? also i faced difficulty in finding a whipping cream in bangalore stores, finally found it in one of the baking institutes here, but yet could not achieve the required consistency, kindly help me out.

Hey Shilpa,yes Amul cream is a bit difficult to work with but we have no choice.Here's what I do-I chill the cream,mixing bowl and the beaters overnight.Just before whisking,I keep a basin full of ice and keep the mixing bowl on top and then start whisking.It yields better results.Since you live in Bangalore,I guess you get non-diary whipped cream there,which would also work well with this cake!

Hi Divya,this recip i had bookmarked for a long time and started getting ready to bake this for my daughter's birthday today...so i was happy with the end result though it did'nt comeout as perfect as yours..the cake was good..ganache was fine..the problem was with the whipped cream...i got a 1lt amul pack and measured 400ml for the whipping cream and mixed the chocolate and chilled it in fridge and whipped got soft peaks but when i freezed it again i don't know what went wrong it was thin and was not able to set on the cake.can u please review this so i can correct in my future trials.though it was having a marble effect with the runny whipped cream and ganache mixed we enjoyed the cake,,,

Hi Sabina,I used 2 amul tetra packs of 200ml each for the whipped cream.I agree,amul cream is not very easy to whip up into soft peaks.But as I mentioned,try keeping a basin full of ice and keep the bowl on top and then whisk,it will yield much better results!Even after you refrigerate,before using whisk it again.

You could pick any chocolate cake recipe without eggs and carry on with the filling and frosting recipe.I feel this recipe would go well - http://www.divyascookbook.com/2011/09/eggless-chocolate-walnut-cake.html

I tried this cake wen my nephew n niece visited me last month - they were insisting for a choc cake .It was amazing :) even though the whipped cream melted . Then i tried it again when i had ppl visiting , this time i added some rum in the cake and also some melted butter in the whipped cream .Everyone loved it ,thanks a lot :) drool-eat-blog.blogspot.com

Hi Divya,stumbled upon your blog, what a co-incidence i was also looking for a chocolate cake recipe to surprise my hubs on his b'day and what a help u are i tell you. :-) the pics are so tempting and feeling hungry already... http://littlemustard.blogspot.co.uk/Priya

thanks a lot divya for the wonderful and delicious recipe .... i made it .. and really turned out excellent ... and my husband was so happy as it was his b'day cake... which was home made and better thn the cake available in the market... thanks a lot again...

Hi Divya, I baked this last friday for a friend's b'day...it came out superlicious....just that I simply could not whip amul cream even with all your additional inputs for whipping. Bought some whipping cream and went ahead. All in all it was a super hit. thanks for such great recipe. One doubt - did you use plain dark chocolate for piping the swirls along border. I use morde or vanleer but when i warm up the chocolate it is too runny and once I let it cool down it doesn't slide through the piping bag :( your swirls look neat and tight. Would you pl let me know how you go about with chocolate piping.

I use Morde too.Melt the chocolate and let it cool for a while,not too long.Fill a piping bag(I sometimes even use milk packets!)and scroll on top of a parchment paper cut to the size of the border of the cake.Immediately stick the paper to the cake and refrigerate the cake.After 10 minutes or so remove the paper and you'll get the collars perfect!

Hey Divya, I tried the Hershey's cake recipe but I had a problem, the cake was sticky at the base and was stuck to the pan, more over the cake sunk a little when out of the oven. I used the exact measurements mentioned. Is it because of the thin batter? Did u face similar problems? Please reply..

Chocolate cakes do tend to stick a little,so I always play it safe by greasing the pan first and then use parchment/butter paper,or even aluminium foil.But I haven't yet got a sunken cake using this recipe.Did you open the oven door in the first few minutes of baking?That is usually the culprit when it comes to sunken cakes.

hi divya , the cake looks yum and deserves its name ! i will be baking this cake for my sis's bday . pls tell me one thing , if i use rich's whipped cream so will i get the same result for the ganache and also what can i substitute for an egg as i dnt eat them . i usually substitute half a bananna and 1tsp of baking powder but the bananna alters the cake taste ... ehat should i do .. i dnt want to use milk maid or curd ad the cake does not rise too much .. pls give a solution to this and reply plsss soon as my sis's bday is on the 28 of this month !

I suggest you use Amul for making the ganache,I personally have not tried Rich's cream.If you are looking for an eggless recipe,I'd suggest go for an eggless chocolate cake recipe and follow the rest of the steps.

Thanks, Divya for this amazing recipe. Halved the quantity and guess what, made this cashew for my husband's birthday :). Turned out fabulous and he absolutely loved it. This was the first time, I made whipped cream and ganache and was thrilled when it turned our so well. I used Nilgiris fresh cream.

I had to make 100 pieces of cake for my son"s bday to be taken to school. Glad I chose this recipe. Was a winner. Used the ganache for dressing the evening party cake which was equally awesome. Thank you.